Vietnam: Binh Lu Market

Vietnam: Halong Bay Cruising

This has got to be one of the most beautiful places in the world.  Halong Bay in Northern Vietnam takes its name from a mythical dragon that landed here.  Thousands of tiny limestone islands dot this body of water.

The best way to enjoy this scenery is to take a cruise on an old-world styled junk overnight.  My father booked a private boat from Indochina Junk that was gorgeously appointed in vintage Asian decor style.  Think red glazed wood, framed gold and black motifs, etc.

Besides the landscape, you have your choice of kayaking through the waters, relaxing on the beach, enjoying the stars above or exploring the caves.  Meals?  You are in for a treat with your private chef who makes multi-course feasts of the freshest seafood.

One of the most fascinating parts of the cruise was a visit to the UNESCO protected Floating village.  About 20 families live in the village on houses that float on the water.  Their main method of earning a living is farmed fish that they sell in the city markets.  Some of the women are employed to row tourists through the waters to visit the village and see the school for children.  MAP

photos by Mariana Leung 

Vietnam: Sapa Farm Country

Oregon: Multnomah Falls

If you decide to take a drive outside of Portland, you only need to travel about an hour before you pass by multiple waterfalls running off mountains populated with tons and tons of trees.  The crown of all the waterfalls is Multnomah Falls.  You can park your car nearby and trek up to the water.
MAP

Oregon: Indie Shopping in Portland

If you love to shop at stores and vendors you don't see everywhere else, the city of Portland is a paradise.

Powell's Books is billed as the country's largest independent bookstore.  I love that whatever subject you look for, you can find the most popular and newest titles mixed in with rare and used books.  I spent over 1 1 /2 hours just in one section of the fashion shelves before the store closed, (open until 11 pm at least).

Portland's Saturday market is a wonderful mix of independent artists, designers and crafts people.  I found a great eco-friendly design label called Bella Sisters, who upcycle jackets with their signature applique style and pintucked tailored fit.  Hubby found several terrific woodworking artists. He bought a puzzle cube with 37 different internationally sourced woods.  The Portland World Market was right next to this market and held more artists.

I also found a bunch of boutiques that supported independent designers and artists.  WoonWinkel,      and Radish Underground were all wonderfully curated and showcased a range of indie vendors at all price points.

Orox Leather was a shop/work studio of a 4th generation leather goods company I found.  It's still run by the same family and they made great shoes and bags.
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OREGON: Porltand Foodie Gems

The food truck culture in Portland puts all other cities to shame... They gather in "pods" at pretty much every public parking lot around the city.  You can partake in the cuisine of almost any nation at an affordable price point.  My favorites were Cheese and Crack, a little cart in the Hawthorne District that served "crack boxes" of artisan cheese, homemade crackers, fruit, chocolate and nuts.  For brunch, we hit up Gaufre Gourmet which served up some amazing Belgian waffles. While the sweet nutella/caramel banana one was a no-brainer, the savory bacon, arugula, brie and fig one was even better.

Voodoo Doughnut is as much as a local temple of sweets as a big tourist haul.  The lines at both locations were around the block at all hours (it was open 24/7).  What was the big deal? The doughnuts ranged from the basic glazed doughnut to gigantic 6-serving sizes.  They have a wicked sense of humor with their menu.  The voodoo doll doughnut is shaped like one, and stabbed through the heart with a pretzel stick and filled with strawberry jelly.  There was a pentagram frosted one, another one called Old Dirty Bastard, a Cock and balls doughnut (triple filled with Bavarian cream) among others.  There was a good selection of vegan choices.  I tried their vegan banana and maple one and it was delish.

Andina was recommended as the hot restaurant of the city.  It had a modern take on Andean and Peruvian flavors.  The service was great the food was even better. The meal started with a trio of house made salsa that were all a step away from what you expect (spicy mango, etc.). Our starter on the tapas menu was a Conchos a la Parilla which was a melt in your mouth diver scallop in a brown sugar butter sauce in crispy potato cup.  For my main course, I had a Corderito de los Andes, a grass-fed rack of lamb with Peruvian potato timbale which was perfectly cooked.
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CALIFORNIA: Central Coast

Don't worry, this massive crowd of elephant seals are perfectly ok.  In fact, they are enjoying a natural spa day by lying in the sun and experience a badly named "catastrophic molt".  They are shedding their fur for the season which is expected for this time of year.

They are a common sight along the beautiful ride up Route 1 along the Central Coast highway.  If you want to learn more about them or help with their preservation, you can check out the Friends of the Elephant Seal organization.

MAP

CALIFORNIA: Ojai

CALIFORNIA: Los Angeles Star Gazing

Washington DC: Flowers in Wonderland

 
I grew up loving the productions of the National Ballet of Canada.  I heard amazing things about their Alice in Wonderland production late last year and was very sad to have missed the opportunity to see them in Toronto.  Lucky me, my wonderful Hubby gave me tickets to their performance at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington as part of a romantic weekend...

The staging and design were spectacular.  The costumes were gorgeous (I already wrote about them in this post).  It was also a treat to see my Rex Harrington, (also known as Sexy Rexy) a dancer that I used to crush on 25 years ago in an artist-in-residence role.

More beauty was to be had the next day when we visited the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. You can find all sorts of bones and biological specimens (many made cameos in the movie "Night at the Museum Smithsonian").   The exhibit I liked the most was the orchids of Latin America...

I read the Orchid Thief several years ago and was fascinated by intense culture of orchid-lovers.  I was also intrigued by the diverse variety of scent, look, size that this flower had.  Here are a few of the pretty ones:

Washington DC: Foodies and First Ladies

In Washington D.C. for less than 36 hours for a romantic getaway with my Hubby... The first thing we did when we hopped off the train at Dupont Circle was to treat ourselves to a latte and cupcake at Hello Cupcake.  They had a tasty Peanut Butter Blossom and Samoan cupcake special.  The boutique itself is girly and cute, which Hubby said looked like what he pictures as the inside of my head... (?) 

To grab a quick dinner before the theater, we strolled over to Hank's Oyster Bar.  Great selection of oysters from both coasts and a killer lobster Roll.  The server was friendly and helpful.  Casual and Cozy.  

If you're in DC on a Sunday morning, be sure to check out the farmer's market in Dupont Circle.  One stand in particular, the baked goods of Bonaparte Breads had a long line gathered before the opening bell even rung.  Our favorite was the apple turnover, though we never even got to try all of their flaky tarts an savories...  Also sampled some artisanal cheeses from  Keswick that we took home.  MAP

For some culture and style, I took myself over to the National Museum of American History.  They had their exhibit of the First Ladies.  While the exhibition had artifacts ranging to their dinnerware to personal effects, the highlight was clearly their gowns.  Not all of them were the inaugural gowns, but they represented the style each of them possessed.  Michelle Obama's famous white Jason Wu gown were on display.  Gowns from Oleg Cassini for Jackie O, Laura Bush, flapper style from Grace Coolidge, etc.  Judith Leiber clutch handbags were clearly the favorite of contemporary First Ladies.